Take learning out of the classroom and into the wider world
The ¶¥¼¶¹ú²úÊÓƵ Experience in action
In Biology Professor Elizabeth Bone’s Ecological Restoration class, Ella Incantalupo ’25, observes how former farmlands and overlooked urban spaces could be turned into thriving, climate change-resistant ecosystems that support a diversity of wildlife.
After conducting field studies at conservation areas across the state, Ella and her classmates identified pockets of land on the ¶¥¼¶¹ú²úÊÓƵ campus that might benefit from the restoration practices they had observed. Ella works on the design of their proposed habitat on the ¶¥¼¶¹ú²úÊÓƵ campus with Isabelle Appiah ’24, Fengying Guo ’25, Annemaire Walsh ’25.
The students researched the amount of rainfall and daily sunlight the areas receive to suggest shrubs, ferns, wildflowers, and other plants — such as woodland phlox, New England asters, swamp milkweed, lupines, and lowbush blueberry — that might thrive and, as an added benefit, attract birds and insects, including pollinators. They designed and mapped out plantings and pathways, developed cost analyses, and created site management plans.
Featured courses
Preserve open land
Students in Small-Scale Land Conservation in Massachusetts walk the woods with state conservation officials, learn how to understand changes to the land, and prepare conservation restriction monitoring reports for local communities.
Create a film
In the Genre Production Workshop, students work with a professional filmmaker and a team of peers on a short film project to gain professional skills in directing, producing, acting, cinematography, editing, sound design, and original music.
Explore community history
In Public History: Race in the U.S., students interviewed families, and pored over primary sources, to unlock the stories behind turn-of-the-century portraits of African- and Native-Americans living in a nearby neighborhood.
